by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

Scott Speed couldn't help but laugh when thinking of what Ricky Stenhouse Jr. just got himself into.

"Welcome to Kim Kardashian's world!" Speed said. "It's going to be a life experience, that's for sure."

Stenhouse, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie, is dating this year's other Cup rookie: Danica Patrick, who happens to be an international celebrity. The news was made official on Friday morning, and some drivers were just as interested in the story as fans.

Speed told USA TODAY Sports he was unconcerned about Stenhouse and Patrick working together on the track, because he said it was "the same thing as teammates" helping each other during races.

"I think it's actually kind of cool," he said. "If there was a situation where he could push her for the win, that'd be awesome! I'm a fan of that. I'm a fan of the whole thing."

Landon Cassill, who feuded with Patrick on the track last year, echoed Speed's comments and said he'd view a relationship between drivers no differently than brothers (such as Kurt and Kyle Busch) or teammates (like when Kurt Busch pushed Ryan Newman to a Daytona 500 victory in 2008).

"Yeah, Ricky might choose Danica over me in a drafting situation, but that's fine," Cassill told USA TODAY Sports. "That's one of the beauties of our sport: Our competition is the wild west, and you do what it takes to win.

"If drafting at Daytona with your girlfriend is what it takes to win, there will not be an asterisk next to the trophy."

Speed, who said he's known about the relationship for months (Cassill called it "one of the worst-kept secrets" in NASCAR), said he first felt negatively about it. But the more he thought about it, he said, it reminded him of his own relationship with wife Amanda.

Like Patrick and Stenhouse, the Speeds both worked in the racing industry (Amanda did public relations) and ended up together even though the driver was in a serious relationship when they first met (Patrick filed for divorce from husband Paul Hospenthal on Jan. 3). Scott and Amanda Speed were married within six months and now have a child together.

"You meet that person and it happens very quickly and you change your life in the process," Speed said. "Maybe it's the start of a great thing for them."

But the driver cautioned it will be hard for Patrick and Stenhouse to maintain a relationship. The highs and lows of being a race car driver are difficult enough for one person in a couple, he said, let alone two.

Speed also said he "feels bad" for Stenhouse because the 25-year-old is not used to what could be an intense media spotlight while Patrick already is comfortable in that world.

"It'll work out," he said. "Their personalities are to be race car drivers. They'll go out and race and compete."

Cassill said the story was big for NASCAR because it's "unique and interesting," but said it wouldn't change the way he viewed Stenhouse or Patrick as competitors.

"They're going to be balancing their love life and their racing life, but they can do it professionally," said Cassill, who noted both drivers chose not to overshadow this week's NASCAR media tour with the news. "I don't think their competitive decisions are going to be challenged very much by their off-track relationship."

There are plenty of inter-industry relationships in NASCAR, Cassill said, because it's a "traveling circus."

"People have met their wives and the mothers of their children through NASCAR," he said. "We could be talking in the future how they met each other and got married."

He added jokingly: "I just want to know who is going to be standing by which car during the national anthem."

Some drivers addressed the news on Twitter. Nationwide Series driver Parker Kligerman wondered if the relationship was worthy of a Facebook dating status change, and Jeff Gordon -- who once went through a high-profile divorce -- tweeted to USA TODAY Sports' Nate Ryan that he understood why people were talking.

"We live in a world today where drama, controversy & who's dating who is what people want to read," Gordon tweeted.

But not all drivers were willing to discuss what could be a lightning-rod topic.

"Not a chance I would touch that one," one driver said when asked for a reaction on Friday.